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Lemon Balm Melissa officinalis

Benefits | Preparation | Medicinal Uses | Side Effects | Plant | Folklore | Buy Bulk |


Common Names
Lemon Balm , Melissa
Botanical Name
Melissa officinalis
Family
LAMIACEAE or LABIATAE Mint Family
Lemon Balm Medicinal Properties & Benefits
Common Uses: Colds * Depression * Heart Tonics/Cordials * Herpes * Hypertension HBP * Insect Bites/Rashes * Nausea * Pregnancy * Sore Throat/Laryngitis *
Properties: Antispasmodic* Carminative* Cardic tonic Cordial* Digestive* Febrifuge* Hypotensive* Nervine* Sedative* Stomachic* Diaphoretic* Uterine Tonic* Vermifuge* AntiViral*
Parts Used: whole herb
Constituents:Volatile oils (citral, citronellal, eugenol acetate, geraniol and other components), polyphenols, tannin, flavonoids, rosmarinic acid, triterpenoids


Lemon balm tea can help bring
lift mild drepression

Herbalists refer to the plant as lemon balm, aromatherapists refer to the essential oil as melissa, both refer to the same plant. Melissa officinalis. Lemon balm is an aromatic mint with a long reputation for having calming properties. Lemon balm has a mild sedative effect, antibacterial and antiviral properties, and an ability to relieve cramps and gas, stop spasms and relieve pain caused by irritable bowel syndrome. This antispasmodic action is a property of the essential oil, which is strong enough to break up spasms but not so strong as to cause constipation. The essential oil, melissa, is also used for nervous heart, depression, restlessness, excitement, headache and insomnia. Melissa (lemon balm) appears to be so unsurpassed in treatment of herpes, it is so effective that the active ingredient has been isolated and is sold in Germany in an anti herpes preparation called Lomaherpan.

How to Use: Lemon Balm
Preparation Methods :Essential oil, herb infusions, tincture
remedyRemedies using : Lemon Balm
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Aromatherapy
Essential Oils and Carrier Oils
aromatherapy Pale yellow oil with a light, fresh lemony aroma, powerful and soothing, Melissa's exorbitant price is due to the fact that it takes up to 7 tons of the plant to extract 1 pound of essential oil
Quick Tips
For cold sores, if you can't find a lemon balm cream, apply the tea, or used tea bags directly to the lesion.
Because it's a mild sedative, lemon balm may help you sleep if the pain of a herpes outbreak is keeping you awake
When used in infusion, however, lemon balm is best used fresh or freeze-dried because the volatile oils in the leaves tend to disappear during the drying process.
referencesLemon Balm Medicinal Uses & Benefits
Herpes, Mumps
The tannins and other pytochemicals in lemon balm extracts deter certain viruses, notably those that cause mumps and herpes.

James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Insomnia
A double-blind study of twenty people with insomnia compared the benefits of 0.125 milligrams of the sedative triazolam (Hal-cion) against placebo and a combination of valerian and lemon balm. The herbal combination was found to be as effective as the drug.

Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002)

Mild depression
Lemon balm herb and melissa oil are recommended for nervousness, depression, insomnia, and nervous headaches. The volatile oils in the plant (particularly citronellal) have a sedative effect even in minute concentrations.

Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Period pain
An important medicinal use of lemon balm is to promote menstrual periods and ease period pain.

Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Colds and Flu
Hot infusions of lemon balm are sweat inducing, useful for treating colds and flu.

Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Side Effects:
None reported, lemon balm is considered a very safe herb, even for babies and the frail. be aware that lemon balm increases the potency of barbiturates. Use the usual care with the essential oil, because of the high cost, this oil is often adulterated with lemongrass and citronella oils.
Plant Description

Koehler's Medicinal-Plants 1887
Koehler's Medicinal-Plants 1887

Lemon balm prefers the warmer climates and is widely grown in the Mediterranean and France and also grows well over much of the eastern and central US. The essential oil, melissa, is extracted from the leaves and small yellow-white flowers. This lemon-scented plant is 1 to 2 1/2 feet high, its covered with fine hair, and has a rather stout, erect, or much-branched stem. The round-toothed, egg-shaped or heart-shaped leaves are from 1 to 2 1/2 inches long and arranged opposite one another on the stem. From June to August the white or cream-colored tube-shaped flowers up to two-thirds of an inch long appear, several to a cluster, in the axils of the leaves. Sievers, A.F. 1930.The Herb Hunters Guide.Misc. Publ. No. 77. USDA, Washington DC

Folklore, Myths and Legends
History and Traditions
historyThe ancients called Melissa Balm Melisphyllon, which means honey leaf. Avicenna described it's properties as cheering and other Arab physicians believed it important for easing melancholy and heart problems. Melissa was the main ingredient in Carmelite water, distilled by monks in Paris from 1611 and is often used in France as a digestive and antispasmodic. (Walji, H.,112)
Astrology:
folkloreIt is an herb of Jupiter, and under Cancer, and strengthens nature much in all its actions. Let a syrup made of the juice of it and sugar (as you shall be taught at the latter end of this book) be kept in every gentlewoman's house, to relieve the weak stomachs and sick bodies of their poor sickly neighbor. Nicholas Culpeper

Common Misspellings: Mellissa, lemonbalm

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Certified Organic Lemon Balm essential oil
buyOrganic Lemon Balm essential oil

Certified Organic Melissa essential oil
buyOrganic Melissa essential oil

Certified Organic Lemon Balm
buyOrganic Lemon Balm

Certified Organic Lemon Balm hydrosol
buyOrganic Lemon Balm hydrosol

Certified Organic Aromatherapy Oils: 100% pure steam distilled plant oils with an unsurpassable fragrance, exceptional depth, magnificent keynote.